What to expect on submission
tips for agent communication + managing nerves
Hi, I’m Kate. Ask an Author is a reader-supported newsletter providing advice and support for authors at all stages of writing, publishing, and hand-wringing. If you know someone this applies to, you can forward them this email and encourage them to sign up. Have a question? Fill out this form and I’ll answer it in a future response.
News:
My debut novel Greenwich will be out July 22! I promise not to turn this into a promo-fest, but I’ll be sharing some more information in the coming weeks about book news, the importance of pre-orders, and where to find me on tour.
Adrienne Brodeur, bestselling author of Little Monsters, calls Greenwich “A stunning debut…Fast-paced, beautifully written, vividly peopled… impossible to put down.”
Publisher’s Weekly says it’s “[An] insightful debut…Fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere ought to take note” and included it as one of their “buzz books” for summer 2025.
Pre-ordering early is the best way to support a novel and help get Greenwich into stores and in front of other readers! Order now and it will ship to you on release day.
NEW UPDATE: I’m excited to offer SIGNED COPIES if you pre-order from P&T Knitwear. When you checkout, you’ll see a section for “Instructions or comments.” Write in who you want your copy made out to, and anything else you want me to add. Makes a great, personalized gift!
“Care and Feeding” is out in The Rumpus
“Good Dead Girls” is out in No Tokens
More work is forthcoming in Bellevue Literary Review, The Brooklyn Review, Fourteen Hills, and now Baltimore Review.
Find me on tour:
I’m excited to have a few stops in the Northeast coming up! At all of these events there will be signed copies for sale. If you can’t make it but want a signed copy, order through P&T Knitwear and let them know in the comments on the checkout page what you want me to write.
Tuesday, July 22 *launch event* at 6:30pm at P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, NYC. In conversation with Jillian Medoff (When We Were Bright and Beautiful).
This is a ticketed event! Register here.
Sunday, July 27 at 2:00pm at Newtonville Books, 10 Langley Road, Newton, MA. In conversation with Elizabeth Gonzalez James (The Bullet Swallower).
Tuesday, July 29 at 7pm at Fleur Providence, 1 West Exchange Street Floor 2, Providence, RI. With the Booked Author Series. This is also a ticketed event, as part of a panel. Tickets will be on sale in July.
Monday, Sept. 22, Brooklyn Book Festival (details TBD)
Dear Kate,
My agent is finalizing my submission package and my debut novel (adult fantasy) is about to go out to editors. I worked so hard to get to this point, and I thought it would be easier or at least less stressful once I had an agent. But now I’m a bundle of nerves and it’s almost worse because I’m starting to realize that even after all this, I might not get a book deal. I really don’t know anything about this side of publishing, and I’m not sure what to expect or even what to ask my agent about. Any tips for how to get through this?
- Submission Jitters
Dear Submission Jitters,
Congratulations on getting to the submission stage! Like you say, it takes a huge amount of work and persistence just to be in this position, and it’s a moment to celebrate everything you’ve accomplished so far. Lots of writers debate which is worse, querying or being on submission, but I don’t know that it’s useful to compare. The good news is that now you have an agent in your corner and they can help you through this process.
Things to ask your agent:
It’s useful to hop on a call with your agent, if you haven’t done so already, and talk this all through. You don’t need a list of specific questions (although if you have any that you’ve brainstormed, definitely ask those!). You can also just say: “I’m nervous and I don’t know what to expect. Can you walk me through these next steps?” It’s perfectly reasonable to touch base about the process and expectations around submission. Your agent works for you, and this is their job.
What’s on the submission list? They should send you a list of the imprints and editors they’re subbing to. Some agents hold off on sharing too many details so that authors don’t get in the weeds googling (er, stalking) editors and obsessing about them. You, dear author, would never do such a thing. But you can have an overall sense of who they’re reaching out to any why they’ve made those choices.
What’s their pitch? You can ask to read their pitch letter. This is one of my favorite things, because it’s the first time I get to see my work presented through someone else’s eyes, and it feels like a big step in the life of the novel-in-progress. It’s also really helpful for getting a sense of how my work is going to be positioned. My agent usually asks for my input/if I’m okay with everything she’s sending. You’re the writer and this is your work, so you want to be happy with how everything reads.
What’s the strategy for submission? Your agent should have a plan for how many editors they’re submitting to at a time. Do they want to go wide, or start with a more targeted approach? What’s their plan if you don’t get any traction in this first round? Will they discuss revision with you? Will they then submit additional rounds? The answer might be “Let’s wait and see,” because you can’t plan for every contingency. But having a sense of their overall approach might help you feel more prepared.
How do you want to receive information from editors? Generally the options are: (1) your agent tells you every time they hear something, (2) your agent sends you a weekly/biweekly/monthly (your choice) roundup of all the info they’ve heard, so you have a set time that you know you’ll get an update, or (3) your agent updates you on a need-to-know basis and only tells you when there’s actionable information—namely, an editor wants to meet with you, an editor has made an offer, or an editor has requested an R&R (revise and resubmit) that your agent thinks you should consider.
Despite the gif, I’m a big fan of approach #3. To me this is the best part of having an agent: they provide some insulation from the industry side of things, so you can keep your head focused on writing + taking care of yourself. But this is a personal choice, and some people want to know everything as it’s happening. If you think you want to know everything, but it turns out that having pass notes pop up in your inbox wrecks your day and only makes this process harder (hello, it me!), consider opting out of that level of info!!! You don’t need it in your life! Also, you’re allowed to change your mind and ask your agent to shift their approach as you go. Even if you take the less-is-more approach, you can contact your agent and ask for an update if you’re feeling like a lot of time has passed without any info. I’ll talk below about timeline—this doesn’t mean email your agent after a few days of even a few weeks have passed. But if months have gone by and you’re wondering if your agent even remembers your name, you aren’t bothering anyone by reaching out.
Your agent will not field a book deal without telling you—no news unfortunately means no news. But you can get their read on how things are going and if it’s time to talk about next steps (another round, revision, expanding your sub list, etc.).
Tips for how to get through this:
Remember that it’s easier and faster for an editor to say no than to say yes. Yes requires getting multiple people on board, then going through multiple meetings about it. If you get a bunch of early passes, it doesn’t mean your book is doomed or that every editor will share the same opinion.
Related to this, publishing is SLOOOOOOOW. Everyone is overworked, underpaid, has other manuscripts to work on, and can’t stay on top of every new pitch that comes in. Yes, some books get snatched up quickly. No, it doesn’t mean anything if your book isn’t the .0000000001% of books that go to auction in 24 hours. You may not hear anything for weeks or even months. That’s OK!! I think the less you expect movement, the easier it is to settle into the idea that this might be a long process. You can’t put your life on hold while you’re waiting.
So start a new project! I know you just put your all into this book on sub, and it might not feel like you have another novel in you right now. But starting something new is the best way to put a little distance between yourself and this current manuscript, which will make it easier to weather the possible ups and downs to come. And it means that eventually, you’ll have a new manuscript to submit. If this book doesn’t sell, you’ll want something new to go out with. And if this book does sell, you’ll want something new to go out with!
Find a supportive community. It could be friends, family, or loved ones to bitch to, or online groups of people on submission and in a similar position. Use the group chat as a place to vent your feelings—NOT public online platforms or social media. Editors are professionals you’re hoping to work with, and you want to present as a professional, too. Private groups are never 100% private if you don’t know who else is in them, but it can be a good way to connect with people and ask questions.
But don’t get too wrapped up in other author groups, especially if it starts to feel stressful or competitive. Find community, but also take time for yourself and know when to step back. A bunch of random people on the internet who are also hoping for their first book deal don’t necessarily know a ton about the process either (but may speak with great conviction as though they do!). One person’s personal experience doesn’t mean it will be YOUR experience, or reflect any industry norm.
I recommend against publicly posting that you’re going on submission. Every time an editor receives your manuscript, even if it’s months from now in a second or third round, it’s new to them. You don’t want them to look you up and then realize that actually you’ve been on sub for a year, and they weren’t in the first group you subbed to. That won’t necessarily stop them from offering, but editors want to feel like a ms is shiny and new. It’s just good protocol to keep some things from being completely public until you have news to share.
I know I’m a broken record recommending therapy, but your mental health matters. If you find yourself struggling with the waiting, uncertainty, rejection, or any other aspect of this process, don’t hesitate to start unpacking it with a professional.
You don’t know what’s going to happen, and unfortunately much of publishing involves having to sit in this place of uncertainty. But the fact that there are no rules also means that there’s not a lot you can read into things. If you get a quick book deal—hooray! Less waiting! But if you don’t, it doesn’t mean there isn’t an offer coming. And if this book doesn’t sell, it doesn’t mean none of your future books will sell, either. Each one is a fresh start.
Once a book is published, nobody knows how long it took to sell or how many passes it got. Even the hottest, buzziest, biggest sellers still accumulate plenty of rejections. I hope this gives you some ideas for things you can talk to your agent, and ways you can adjust your mindset in order to care for yourself.
No matter what, keep writing!
Kate
Darn it! You were right down the street in Royal Oak, Mich and I missed it! Love the book and all the thoughtful, precise advice for aspiring authors. If you visit indies again, my stars are Tombolo in
St. Pete, Fla., and McLean & Eskin in Petoskey, Mich.